Rich Landers: Panel’s new rules address crowded lands
Freedom was easier to find on public lands before the human population swelled to rival the number of trees.
Nowadays, land managers must make rules that limit our actions on public lands to prevent the masses from loving a place to death or simply annoying each other to the point of violence.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will be served a heaping plateful of these issues Friday during its meeting in Port Angeles. The nine-member panel is scheduled to discuss, vote on and possibly amend a proposed public code of conduct for 900,000 acres managed by the state Fish and Wildlife Department.
In other words, they’re laying down the law in one easy-to-read package and giving enforcement agents the authority to issue citations to people who abuse the rules.
Life was more laid back for sportsmen and wildlife a few decades back when hunters and anglers were pretty much the only people recreating on state lands such as the Chief Joseph and Colockum wildlife areas.
More recently, there’s been justifiable alarm over the rising tide of rock climbers, shooters, ATVers, river rafters, dog walkers and all the other recreation groups who consider Fish and Wildlife lands to be just another public place to play.
Many of these “new” users still don’t know they are required to have a $10 annual vehicle permit, available from hunting and fishing license dealers, when using state wildlife lands or boat-launching areas.
Hunters flock to wildlife areas during the relatively brief fall hunting seasons and then leave the wildlife alone to conserve their energy for surviving the winter and bringing on a new crop of creatures in the spring.
But growing numbers of groups, such as snowmobilers and shed-antler gatherers, can carry on the disturbance through the critical winter and early-spring periods when critters such as elk and deer are running on the fumes of their fat reserves.
Pets are a huge issue to birds and other creatures on wildlife lands in Western Washington where any public open space is a magnet to people – and dogs – in need of for open space.
Six years in the making, most of the rules being proposed Friday are common sense:
“No disorderly conduct; no keggers; no fireworks; no littering; no dumping from RVs; no more than 30 people in a gathering without a permit; no camping at one site for more than 21 days within a 30-day period.
Some of the proposals are simply clarifications of rules already on the books:
“No digging pits for waterfowl hunting; no tree cutting; no motorized off-road travel except in designated areas.
Some proposals stem from new types of uses that threaten wildlife areas or public safety:
“No shooting of tracer or incendiary ammunition; no unleashed pets near access areas or campgrounds; no wire, staples or nails in constructing camps, blinds or tree stands.
Some people will say the proposals go too far:
“Spent shell casings are specifically listed as litter that must be cleaned up; the limit on gathering either mushrooms or berries is one gallon per person per day; campfires are limited to a maximum of 3 feet in diameter and 3 feet high.
Some people will say the proposed rules don’t go far enough:
“Clay targets are not considered litter – even the ones painted fluorescent orange; snowmobiling will still be allowed in the Colockum Wildlife Area, where public access appears to be a factor for the reduction in an elk herd the wildlife area is supposed to protect.
Bruce Bjork, WDFW enforcement chief, welcomes the code of conduct because it will define a clear set of rules for the public to understand and for his officers to enforce.
For the first year, officers will help educate the public by issuing warnings instead of citations except in egregious situations, Bjork said.
The downside, he agreed, is that the new emphasis on rules does not include any provision for more enforcement officers.
That may be the biggest issue down the road for all public lands in Washington, which ranks No. 11 among Western states in size but No. 2 in population.